Continental/ Scandinavian Workbench Build

[dzj]

The design is based on measurements Frank Klausz presented in an online article.
They are more/ less in line with what is considered a traditional bench in Central Europe (Scandinavia also, I hear)
and I could have taken the trouble of measuring up an old bench somewhere, but this was easier.
I didn’t stray much from what Mr. Klausz suggested.

Anyway, the build took about 6-7 months to complete, but realistically there is about 3 weeks of work involved.
I opted for seasoned Beechwood, as it is plentiful here and about the same price as SPF.
For the build I used D3 type PVA glue and the dog holes are laminated, rather than routed.
The trays are 12mm ply and the shoulder vise chop is Black Locust.

 

[dzj]

Some more photos:

 

[dzj]

And a few more:

I’ve yet to attach the hardware as the fellow making the screws hasn’t returned from holiday.
And a few layers of BLO and that’s it...

 

[deema]

Looks brilliant, well done.

 

[Brian18741]

Beautiful work!

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk

 

[ColeyS1]

That's one really smart looking bench ! Almost too nice to use :lol:

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[smartecosse]

That looks fantastic..........

 

[dzj]

Finaly got around to finishing it.

 

[deema]

Beautiful bench, lovely work, well done

 

[Ttrees]

Bravo
Plan on doing the same, but it won't be as bright as yours as it will be iroko
Congratulations
Tom

 

[dzj]

An Iroko bench will look very handsome!
A bit too pricey for me, though.
I spent maybe 30 Euros on a few 2m pieces. The rest were all offcuts.

 

[Ttrees]

Hi again, I forgot to ask
If you were doing this again, and you had an unlimited amount of wood....
Would/might you make the whole bench top, the same thickness as the dog hole section ?

I gather that you need to have beefier end caps
Would this be bothersome to your eye, or legs if you intended to sit at the end of your bench?

I'm probably going to go ahead and run into problems later on, but it would be nice to get a heads up
if something you read sounds problematic ...
Thinking of having the less desirable ends of my stock,oriented toward's the tail vise,
as there may be some major removal of stock that end, possibly for the vice ...
Something I recall from Carters workbench youtube blog, must have a look again at that.

Basically gonna laminate this up before any end caps are even thought about ...
I think I'll be on the right track

Thanks for documenting this
Tom

 

[dzj]

"Would/might you make the whole bench top the same thickness as the dog hole section ?"

No real need. The dog hole section is a 4x5" beam and this is where most of the pounding/ chopping
is done. The rest is ~65 mm in thickness. In the 35mm space is where the tail vise rails are situated.
Also the difference in height is handy because you can clamp stock to the face of the bench.


"I gather that you would might need to make or laminate more meat to the tail vise endcap,
would this be bothersome to your eye, or legs if you intended to sit at the end ?"

I don't know. It's an aesthetic concern, but it might look a bit heavy.
In any case, the tail vise is the most complex part of the bench, so if you intend to make changes
to the usual 'canon', drawings or perhaps a smaller model might be useful, as such changes can have a
knock-on effect.